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Posts Tagged ‘Mathemagic’

Mathemagic Magic Tricks
Martin Gardner has had no formal education in mathematics, but he has had an enormous influence on the subject. His writings exhibit an extraordinary ability to convey the essence of many mathematically sophisticated topics to a very wide audience. In the words ?rst uttered by mathematician John Conway, Gardner has brought “more mathematics, to more millions, than anyone else.”

In January 1957, Martin Gardner began writing a monthly column called “Mathematical Game” in Scientific American. He soon became the influential center of a large network of research mathematicians with whom he corresponded frequently. On browsing through Gardner’s old columns, one is struck by the large number of now-prominent names that appear therein. Some of these people wrote Gardner to suggest topics for future articles; others wrote to suggest novel twists on his previous articles. Gardner personally answered all of their correspondence. Read the rest of this entry »